Lecture 6 Chapter 24 Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium 95.144 Conductors full of electrons? Course website: http://faculty.uml.edu/andriy_danylov/teaching/physicsii
Today we are going to discuss: Chapter 24: Section 24.6 Conductors in electrostatic equilibrium Skip (Example 24.8)
Insulators and conductors The electrons in an insulator are all tightly bound to the positive nuclei and not free to move around. In metals, the outer atomic electrons are only weakly bound to the nuclei. These outer electrons become detached from their parent nuclei and are free to wander about through the entire solid.
Now let s look at properties of Conductors using Gauss s law
Electric field inside a conductor Consider a conductor and apply an external electric field. Conductor E ext Conductor has tons of free electrons and under the influence of E ext they will run to the left surface leaving positive charges near the right surface and creating E internal. E int How many of them will move? -The electrons will keep moving until the internal field cancels out the external field inside the conductor Thus, the electric field inside a conductor is zero in electrostatic situation
Φ Charges in a conductor Consider a positively charged conductor Where does this excess charge reside in the conductor? Let s apply Gauss s law Take a Gauss. surface just barely inside the surface of a conductor So Q in =0 (inside the Gaussian surface) Thus, the positive excess charge resides on the external surface of the conductor In simple words: They just repel each other
E (outside) is to the surface of a conductor The external electric field right at the surface of a conductor must be perpendicular to that surface. If it were to have a tangential component, it would exert a force on the surface charges and cause a surface current, and the conductor would not be in electrostatic equilibrium (Proof by contradiction). E
E near any conducting surface
Charged conductor with a hole inside Are there any charges on an interior surface? Conductor No charges Let s apply Gauss s law Place a Gaussian surface around the hole. Φ 0 The electric flux is zero through the Gaussian surface, since E=0 inside the conductor. So Q in =0 (inside the Gaussian surface), i.e there is no charge on the surface of the hole Any excess charge resides on the exterior surface of a conductor, not on any interior surfaces
Screening/Faraday cage I The use of a conducting box, or Faraday cage, to exclude electric fields from a region of space is called screening. Sensitive instruments are often enclosed in a "Faraday cage" to shield them from unwanted radio frequencies (electromagnetic waves). The field pushes electrons toward the left, leaving a net negative charge on the left side and a net positive charge on the right side. The result is that the net electric field inside the box is zero.
Screening/Faraday cage II Shielding essentially prevents electromagnetic pulses from interfering with the proper functioning of electronics. conductive fabrics metallic inner shields Vacuum metallization Conductive paints A Faraday cage protects its contents by preventing electromagnetic energy from getting inside.
Let s ask the same question again: Q+q Conductor Let s put a charge inside the hole Are there any charges on an interior surface? Charged (+Q) conductor Negative charge -q Let s apply Gauss s law Place a Gaussian surface around the hole. Φ 0 The electric flux is zero through the Gaussian surface, since E=0 inside the conductor. So Q in =0 (the net charge inside the Gaussian surface But, we know that there is +q inside, it means that there must be q on the interior surface (+q charge induced q on the surface) Let s count all charges inside the conductor to find the amount of charge on the exterior surface Inner surface The conductor is charged to +Q
Conductor with two cavities An uncharged conducting sphere of radius R contains two spherical cavities. Point charge Q 1 is placed within the first cavity (not necessarily at the center) and Q 2 is placed within the second one. Find the charge on the outer surface.
Thank you
Example E field of a plane of charge Example 24.5 Find the electric field of an infinite nonconducting plane of charge with surface charge density η (C/m 2 ).